On the evening of July 18th Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch was notified that Linda Solomon, a 61 year old woman from Irvine, CA could not be located by her hiking partners. The hiking party originally consisted of three members; the route was a two night trip from the Green Lake trailhead out of South Lake to the North Fork trail via Baker Creek. On the last day of the trip Mrs. Solomon started down the trail slightly earlier than her hiking companions; the starting point was Baker Lake. Mrs. Solomon and her hiking partners unintentionally took two separate routes from their camping spot resulting in the two hiking partners being on one side of Baker Creek and Mrs. Solomon on the other. The hiking partners spotted Mrs. Solomon on the opposite side of Baker Creek across a marshy area about a mile east of their previous night’s camping spot. Both parties continued east but were unable to reunite. The hiking partners searched for Mrs. Solomon throughout the day, and when they were unable to locate her they hiked out via North Fork and contacted Inyo County Sheriff’s Office.A search and rescue mission was launched Wednesday morning. Two teams were sent in; one via Coyote Flats and the other through the Baker Lake trail via the Glacier Lodge trailhead and up North Fork. Aerial reconnaissance was provided by CHP H-82 out of Victorville. The Coyote Flat SAR team discovered a note around 2:00pm in an old abandoned cabin on the south end of Coyote Flat. The note stated, “Wed. noon. July 20. Linda Solomon was here.” A note was left in the same place by a SAR team member instructing Mrs. Solomon to stay put if she comes back to the cabin, and that search teams will be back the next day. An additional clue that was discovered was a camera lens that was identified as Mrs. Solomon’s; the lens was about ¾ of a mile from the cabin on a dirt road. Search teams concluded yesterday’s efforts around 7:30pm.On Thursday July 20th teams from Inyo Search and Rescue and China Lake Mountain Rescue Group began a ground search in the vicinity of Coyote Flat near and around the cabin, and the Baker Creek drainage out of Big Pine. Aerial recon for today’s efforts is provided by CHP - Inland Division Air Operations.Mrs. Solomon is 5 feet tall and 100 pounds. She has black shoulder length hair and brown eyes. Her clothing consists of a light blue long sleeve shirt, dark blue rain jacket, and blue/grey backpack. She is described as a cautious and experienced hiker. If anyone has seen Mrs. Solomon or has any information that can assist this search please contact Sheriff’s Dispatch at 760-878-0383

I hope to one day move to Inyo or Mono counties. When I do, I plan to join the SAR team of whichever county I end up in. Right now my butt is tied to a 9-5+ job, but if I move up there I should have more flexibility. I really appreciate the work these folks do. I'm in the backcountry often, and while I've been fortunate enough to never need help I hope to one day pay it forward for all the hours of joy the backcountry gave me.

If you go out as a group, stay together as a group. There had better be a really good reason to separate. Getting antsy to hike is not a good reason. How many of these lost hikers stories begin with groups splitting up?

She would have been found earlier if she had stayed in the cabin. SAR knows about these backcountry cabins and makes a point to check them out. I don't understand writing a note saying you were there and then leaving without specifying a destination or direction. What does that accomplish?

She correctly settled in an open area where she would be visible. If you are lost and there are people who will report you as overdue, then a search will start sooner or later. Make their job easy. Do stuff that will stick out to a guy in a helicopter.